Enzan no Metsuke and Eye Contact

by Lucas

Hello Imafuji-sensei, I’m going to do another strange question haha.

Now, my question regards the concept of Enzan no Metsuke and eye contact. In kendo, and possibly, I believe, in other Martial Arts, we are told to maintain eye contact with our opponent. I can see why this is important from the psychological point of view, and by experience. However, after thinking about the concept of Enzan no Metsuke, I thought:

If the important thing is to see our whole opponent, isn’t it more advantageous to keep the eye points in the middle of our opponent (the middle of his chest for example) so our peripheral vision can cover the whole better?

Sorry for asking this without trying for myself. I refrained from that so I could keep my focus in more important thing and to not develop (potentially) bad habits.

Answer: Thank you for your question. Don’t apologize. Enzan no Metsuke is to prevent you from focusing on one thing. People tend to lose their attention because they focus on one thing too much. Are you familiar with that kind of experience?

You must focus on your opponent. You can keep an eye contact but you don’t look into your opponent’s eyes. Do you know what I mean?

The most important thing is that you need to pay attention to your opponent, not a part of your opponent.

You probably should read Kan Ken No Metsuke as well.

Hope this helps!

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